Stormy Night
by MeganKoumori
Summary: While Andy's away, the Toys spend a night in the living room.


Woody grunted as he stood in front of the fireplace, holding the smallest log he could find. With an unsteady toss, he lobbed it into the hearth. Bo stood behind him as he threw a few pieces of crumpled paper on top. Outside she could hear thunder crashing and it seemed to be getting louder with every passing minute.

" _Argh!"_ Woody had pulled a lighter from his holster and was futilely clicking it. "It darn well figures! The one lighter I can find…The _one_ lighter…and it's out of gas! Of all the stupid…"

Bo wordlessly tapped him with her crook, then gestured to the brass stand where the fireplace instruments were kept. A black and yellow box marked _"Kindle-Oh Fireplace Starter"_ sat on the bottom.

The aggravation melted from Woody's face. Rubbing his neck, he dropped his head and sighed deeply.

* * *

With the fire lit, the two dolls climbed into the orange recliner. Woody leaned against Bo. "You know," she said, gently stroking the back of his hair. "With Mom and Molly sleeping at Grandma's and Andy on his Wilderness Explorers trip, I was hoping we could have some quality time together."

"I know," he said. "I'm sorry. I know I'm not very good company this evening."

"You're still upset about Andy not taking you with him?"

Woody paused, thinking. "No, not really upset. I mean I _was_ , but now…now I'm more worried than anything."

Bo looked at him in surprise. "About what?"

"About what? Have you looked outside? It's pouring buckets! Andy's in that mess!"

"He's gone camping before."

"At Cowboy Camp in a cabin! The Wilderness Explorers use tents!" Woody twisted around to look at her. "What if he gets hit by lightning or there's a flash flood?"

Bo placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back down. "Woody, Andy's perfectly safe. He's with his Troop Leader."

"Troop Leader…" Woody groused, folding his arms. "Yeah right, who is that guy anyway? What makes him qualified to take care of a bunch of ten year olds?"

"How about his paramedic's certification?"

Woody paused. "That…that would certainly count," he mumbled. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Bo smiled, feeling her own blue eyes getting heavy…

"What about bears?"

Bo's eyes opened. _"What?"_

Woody had turned to look at her. "What about bears?" he repeated. "What if they get attacked by bears?"

"There are no bears around here."

"Are you kidding? There are bears all over the place! Why do you think they put one on the state flag?"

"Woody, they're in a state park!"

"So were Yogi and Boo-Boo!" Woody stopped. Bo was staring at him, exasperated. He sighed, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "I'm sorry, Bo. I'm being really stupid, aren't I?"

Bo reached under his arms, drawing him close and guiding his head to her lap. "I don't think you're stupid. I think you just care about everyone. You can't help it, Sugar."

"I know one thing," he said, looking up at her. "I care about you."

Bo beamed at him. She was about to say something when the door to the living room swung open. Slinky shuffled in. "I knew it! I knew I smelled a fire! The nose always knows!" One by one Andy's other toys followed, making their way to the crackling hearth.

Potato Head smirked up at the armchair. "Getting a little cozy, huh Sheriff?"

"Oh shut up," Woody mumbled.

Jessie was rubbing her hands over the fire. _"Woo-whee!_ Feel that heat!" She elbowed Buzz right next her. "Ain't it feel great?"

"Yes it's quite, uh, homey," he answered.

She resumed warming herself. "Too bad Andy took all the marshmallows campin' with him! We coulda make schmoes!"

Buzz's jaw dropped open as he stared at her. "What?" she said in confusion. "What are you lookin' at?"

The room flashed white as a streak of lightning tore through the sky outside. It was followed a moment later by a booming thunderclap that made everyone jump.

Sighing, Potato Head took a seat in front of the fire and the others followed. "So any of you have any bright ideas on how to pass the time?"

"Ooh I know!" Jessie waved her arm in the air. "Let's tell scary stories! I reckon I got a good one!"

"Well let's hear it."

"It's called _'Trapped Behind the Refrigerator'…"_ Rex screamed wildly, flailing his arms. Jessie gave him a sour look. "I haven't started yet."

Woody had climbed down off the recliner and was making his way over to the group. "Guys, maybe we shouldn't tell _scary_ stories…"

There was a groan. "Thanks, Cowboy Killjoy."

"Now just hold on. I think Jessie had a good idea about telling stories, but how about this? At Cowboy Camp, Andy and the kids play a game where each person gets to tell part of a story, and then the next person in line continues from where the story left off."

"You mean we all get to make up a story together?" said Jessie.

"That's it."

The other toys looked at each other. "Sounds intriguing," said Buzz.

"Okay I'm in."

Woody took a seat next to Jessie. "I guess I'll start." He cleared his throat. _"Once there was a legendary gunslinger named…"_

"Sheriff Woody?" finished Potato Head. The others snickered.

Woody looked irritated. "I was going to say Jim Lassiter." Blank stares. "Jim Lassiter, the hero of _'Riders of the Purple Sage.'"_ More blank stares and he huffed. _"'Riders of the Purple Sage'_ is the greatest Western novel ever…You know what? Forget it." He took a breath and started over. _"Once there was a legendary gunslinger named Jim Lassiter. One day while Lassiter was riding across the Great Salt Lake Desert on his horse…"_

"Does he look like you?"

"What?"

Jessie had her knees folded Indian-style and she was grinning from ear to ear. "Does Jim Lassiter look like you?"

"No he doesn't look like me!" Woody snapped.

"Then what does he look like?"

"Ed Harris! Now let me continue!" Woody grimaced in aggravation as he tried to pick up where he left off.

"Nope can't see it!" Jessie said cheerfully. "So I'm just gonna picture you!"

Woody shot her a look. _"Anyway…One day while Lassiter was riding across the Great Salt Lake Desert on his horse when he came across a cave. It was dark and dreary and as Lassiter peered inside…"_

" _A SEVEN FOOT RABBIT APPEARED!"_

"What?"

Jessie pushed Woody's hat down over his face. "My story now, Lassie-Tears! _The rabbit had long floppy ears, giant buck teeth, and a cute pink wiggly nose. Most importantly he hadn't eaten for days! And wouldn't you know it! Woody Lassie-Frass's nose just happens to look like a carrot!"_

Woody's hand flew to his nose indignantly. "It does not! And I told you I'm not…"

" _His bunny belly growling, he reached for the Cowboy…"_

" _But Woody jumped out of the way using his amazing Kung-Fu skills!"_ finished Buzz triumphantly. _"Thus began an epic martial arts showdown, Woody vs Rabbit!"_

"I'm betting on the Rabbit," said Hamm.

" _Fortunately for Woody he had spent many years in China studying the Northern Shaolin style of Kung-Fu. The Rabbit attempted a high flying kick but Woody dodged using a perfect triple back full…"_

"A WHAT?"

"A fancy backflip with a 1080 degree twist," said Buzz. _"Woody tried to do a Butterfly Kick but as his legs left the ground the Rabbit grabbed him by the boot! As he dangled the Kung-Fu Cowboy upside in the air he said…"_

"' _I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT!'"_

There were groans at Rex's outburst. _"Awww…"_

"Talk about your anticlimax."

"I wanted him to eat Woody."

"Well Rex," said Buzz. "I guess it's your turn now. Go on and keep telling the story."

"Well I'm happy to try," said Rex. He picked up from his interruption. _"'I don't want to fight!' said the Rabbit. "I'm a lonesome bunny with no friends or family or owner! Won't you please be my friend, Mr. Cowboy?'" And so Woody and the Rabbit agreed not to fight any more but to be best friends forever and help each other on video game levels and…_

"This is dumb!" interrupted Hamm.

"Oh _now_ you think this is dumb?" said Woody scornfully. "It got dumb when Jessie introduced a seven foot rabbit!"

"Hey!" Jessie protested. "I say it got dumb when you made yerself the protagonist!"

"I did not!"

"My turn!" Hamm said. _"The Rabbit dropped Woody on the floor. 'Instead of beating each other silly like Primitives,' he said. 'Why don't we settle this like gentlemen?'"_

"Are Rabbits gentlemen?" asked Rex.

"' _Let's play poker! In Las Vegas!' And so the Rabbit and Woody hopped a flight to Vegas to compete in the World Series of Poker at Caesar's Palace! Of course the Rabbit cleaned house, scoring the fifty million dollar jackpot, while Woody lost everything but his bandana. And then he lost his bandana."_

Woody twisted around to face Bo on the recliner. She was curled up on a round turquoise throw pillow. "I don't suppose you want to join in on this?"

Bo giggled. "Oh no. I'm having too much fun listening, Kung-Fung Cowboy."

"Ah hah. Very funny."

" _So now the Rabbit was rich,"_ said Potato Head. _"He got himself a fancy suit and hat and one of those eye glass thingies where you only wear one of them."_

"Monocle."

"Whatever. _So the Rabbit bought himself a big house in the middle of nowhere where no one would ever bug him and he could have peace and quiet and wouldn't have to hear no more stupid questions. Meanwhile Woody was so poor he had to go around wearing a barrel that showed off his skinny chicken legs!"_

"Potato Head!"

"Well how do you think the rest of us feel?" said Potato Head. "No one actually wants to _see_ your skinny chicken legs!"

"That's what you get for gambling!" said Hamm.

The fire was burning low now but none of the Toys noticed as they continued to talk and laugh. The hours ticked away and one by one, each Toy began to drift off. Finally Woody's eyes began to grow heavy and he lay down on the beige carpet. Suddenly something lifted his arm and crawled underneath, finding a perfect spot on his chest to rest on.

He smiled sleepily. "Night, Bo."

"Night, Sweetie…"Within seconds they were both asleep, arms twined around each other as thunder rolled above.

* * *

As Woody's eyes opened the next morning, he could see sunlight reflecting through raindrops rolling down the window panes.

Bo was already awake. She smiled up at him. "Good morning."

"Morning."

"The storm's over."

"That it is."

There was a raspy snore. Looking over, the pair could see Andy's other toys sprawled out as they slept on. As the two watched, Bo said, "I know Andy needs you…"

"Yeah…"

"But look," she said. _"They_ need you too. And so do I."

Placing his chin on her hair, Woody wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her closer. "I need you too." He was about to give her a kiss when there was a slight jingle. Looking up he could see Andy's Toys, wide awake and grinning like identical Cheshire Cats.

Woody sighed. "Never fails."

"Way to go, Jim Lassiter!"

"I told you I'm not…" He didn't finish his sentence before Bo had grabbed his chin and moved his lips to hers. Amid the hooting and cheers of his fellow Toys, Woody turned red as a tomato but couldn't help grinning bashfully.

"Well Lassiter _did_ get the girl…"


End file.
